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Aim/Purpose It appears that humans can become mal-informed and often consciously or subconsciously resist revising their mal-informed perspectives Background We need to apply behavioral and/or cognitive psychological approaches rather than traditional "educational" approaches Methodology Literature review Contribution Suggests revising research focus to affective rather than cognitive solutions Findings Teaching critical thinking helps but is not enough Impact on Society Many important societal decisions may be made emotionally rather than rationally Future Research Research affective as well as cognitive factors in decision-making

This study explores the direct and indirect links between structural heterogeneity, network heterogeneity, and political participation. We review the often conflicting scholarship on discussion network heterogeneity and political participation and place it within a multilevel conceptual framework of heterogeneity. Based on this integrated theoretical model, our study uses a combination of macro-level and individual-level survey data from various sources. First, we use a cross-sectional national data set, based on a telephone survey with a probability sample of almost 800 adults. Second, we combine these individual-level data with county-level data on religious, political, and racial heterogeneity. Based on these data sets, we develop a path model linking structure, context, and networks into an integrated pathway to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of heterogeneity on political participation. Our results show positive links between structural and network heterogeneity that are both direct and indirect, that is, mediated through various communication processes.Scholars studying heterogeneity and political participation have put forward opposing theories and conflicting evidence as to the relation between the two. Early voting research suggested that cross-pressures, or more generally stated political disagreement, discourages citizens' political participation, whereas more recent studies generally view disagreement within social networks as fostering collective deliberation, awareness, political knowledge, and consequently participation. Moreover, additional research has demonstrated how the context, or social space in which individuals are Corresponding author: Dietram A. Scheufele;

There has been deepening concern about political polarization in public attitudes toward the scientific community. The “intrinsic thesis” attributes this polarization to psychological deficiencies among conservatives as compared to liberals. The “contextual thesis” makes no such claims about inherent psychological differences between conservatives and liberals, but rather points to interacting institutional and psychological factors as the forces driving polarization. We evaluate the evidence for both theses in the context of developing and testing a theoretical model of audience response to dissonant science communication. Conducting a national online experiment ( N = 1,500), we examined audience reactions to both conservative-dissonant and liberal-dissonant science messages and consequences for trust in the scientific community. Our results suggest liberals and conservatives alike react negatively to dissonant science communication, resulting in diminished trust of the scientific community. We discuss how our findings link to the larger debate about political polarization of science and implications for science communicators.